Hi Folks,
I have been offered a Walthers P2k SD45 for very little $$$, but it is DC and I need to convert it to DCC and sound. A Digitrax DH165L0 HO Scale Mobile Decoder is recommended for the conversion, which is “Soundbug” ready.
Here is my question:
Does the Soundbug fit into this loco without any changes to it (the loco or the loudspeaker)?
Looking at my Soundbug sitting here on my desk, I’m going to have to say that the included speaker, especially after adding an enclosure, will be too big to fit without some serious modification to the loco. However, it is a standard 8 ohm speaker, not some special 32 or 100 ohm model, so various size and shape repalcements are readily available. I think a small oval with enclosure would fit inside the cab, after removing the crew figures.
–Randy
Thanks, Randy, for your help. I was afraid that it is going to be a little more than just plug-and-pray…[:)]
I can get the P2K for about half the price , so I will have to accept fiddlin´ with the sound - or is there another solution, ie. MRC soundboard ?
The Soundtraxx Tsunami AT-1000 EMD Second Gen decoder would be a great choice for this loco. The Digitrax and MRC solutions are poor choices at best.
David B
I’m really finding the SoundBug to be a better choice in many respects. User-programmable sounds for once means it beats Tsunami hands down. Plus it has NO current inrush problems like QSI and needs no booster or extra junk to program - even works on the program track, not just the POM workaroudn needed for some others. Granted I’ve had no problems programmign QSI with my Zephyr, but that’s not the case with users of other systems.
I do find the lack of sounds disappointing, but a new program just released by Fred Miller might change that. The problem with the Soundbug is that ‘programming’ it really means ‘programming’ - you have nearly direct access to the PIC processor on it and need to program the sequences essentially by programming the processor. Naturally this is NOT easy - but it is way more flexible than the canned set of events built in to other programmable sound decoders. Fred’s program simplifies all that by providing the misisng canned common sequences so one only needs ot know how to edit sound to make a sound file for the Digitrax sound decoders - without it you need to know how to edit sound AND be a PIC programmer.
I’ve found most of the claims here and elsewhere about the Soudnbug to be totalyl false. Digitrax needs to correct their web site, the Soundbug has a standard 8 ohm speaker, not an oddball 32 ohm. That’s not true for all Digitrax sound decoders, but in the case of the Soundbug, it’s defintiely an 8 ohm. It’s also NOT “so quiet you can barely hear it”. I clip-leaded it to my track and just lef tthe speaker sittign there - no enclosure. If anything, that should be the quietest it can be - I know using a Soundtraxx LC it was nearly inaudible in a quiet room until the speaker was put in a proper enclosure. Instead, the sounds were easy heard in the next room with the TV also on!
As for sound quality, it’s very much a function of the recorded sounds being used. The stock 'gene
Rrinker, I agree with you on many respects, but let me show you how my experience has differed…
I was an active member on the Yahoo group from the get-go and alot of things were promised to us. However, when we found out the that decoder lacks in the notching and processing areas, we were highly dissapointed. The notching cannot be fixed, this is the way the decoder is hardwired. The issue has always been the Idle to Notch one in Notch modual 8. It just doesn’t work. AJ hasnt the time nor the interest to fix it. This was from the get go a get-the-technology-out-the-door-and-let-the-end-user-figure-it-out type of product.
I held my breath for over a year and a half waiting for a fix or an advancement, but to no avail. Not to mention the day trying to unravel AJ’s language and customizing decoders to my liking…but always falling short.
No matter how you program the SFX family of decoders, it will always just be a canned set of events just like every other decoder out there.…even with full knowledge of AJ’s programming language (and the advanced functions he put on there but didnt utilize because of the lack of processing power of the decoder) it will at best behave like any other quality sound decoder. Out of the box, it is surpassed by Soundtraxx LC series of decoders…
Ah, the speaker issue. From day one Digitrax used 32 ohm speakers becuase of the requirement of the decoder. Many users (including me) emailed them about this issue because it just wasnt feasable to have a one-speaker-fits all situation (good luck finding a 32 ohms speaker in a 16x32mm format).
It seems as if I´d be better off with a Tsunami decoder - money-wise it is just about the same issue here in Germany. Still I do not know where to put the speaker, which one to choose… [:(]